Sawyer and Hazel
by EmelieEmelie
Summary: This is a story about the relationship between Sawyer and Hazel. In the second Movie they are about 14 - 15 years old, this takes place a couple years later. In this they are 18. Get ready for some Sawyer/Hazel fluff! Read and Review! :)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! Alright, so this was a wonderful request from Dolphinsintheblue, the request was to make a fanfic about Sawyer and Hazel when they're older, in the second movie they are about 14 – 15 so in this one they'll be 18. Just note that this will have about 32 chapter and since I'm also working on my Hunger games fanfic it might take some time for the next chapter in both to be written. Anyway, I hope you will like this! Enjoy!**

Chapter 1 – Ice cream and confessions

**Sawyer's POV**

_He threw the rubber ducky and Winter splashed away to get it, she returned a moment later with it and Hope beside her. Winter gave up her tweedy bird sound and Sawyer smiled as he patted her on the head. Hope wanted attention too, she buffed his arm with her mouth._

"_Hi" said a girls voice behind him. Sawyer turned around to see a pretty blond girl with freckles on her cheeks and a beautiful smile._

"_Hi" said Sawyer._

"_Can I join in?"_

"_Sure." Hazel sat down next to him and started patting Hope's head. Sawyer smiled at the image._

"And that will all be on the test, yes" said his math teacher, waking him up from his daydreams. The bell rang. "Alright. Don't forget the home work: page forty to forty-seven."

The class started to pack their stuff. No one could do it fast enough no matter how hard they tried, it was Friday. And to that, Friday afternoon. Everyone wanted home, including Sawyer. Well, Sawyer wanted back to the CMA, and to Hazel.

As he walked through the corridors he couldn't help but to think about that beautiful smile and sweet eyes who always sparkled with joy- _No no no! You're only friends! Only friends! _

"This is a message from principal Jordan. All seniors, please do not ignore that finals are up soon and that the deadline for applying to college is soon here. Thank you." There was a raspy sound and the hall was filled with chatter again.

God! It was all they ever talked about. Study! Finals! College! He knew all that! He knew that he was graduating high school and hand to apply to college. He'd already done that. Though he hadn't gotten any letter yet.

Sawyer tried to push it to the back of his mind as he biked away from school in the direction of the CMA.

He stopped when he saw the Haskett boathouse and Hazel sitting in the crow's nest with several books in her lap. She had a wrinkle between her eyebrows as she always had nowadays when she was focused.

Sawyer parked his bike and climbed up the rope ladder, she didn't notice it. _Wow, she is really lost in the world of school work!_

"Hey, Hazel" Sawyer said. Hazel jumped.

"God, Sawyer don't sneak up on me!" she said.

"I wasn't sneaking."

"Whatever! Knock or something." Sawyer quirked an eyebrow and knocked lightly on the wooden floor.

"Happy?"

"Yes. Come on up."

Sawyer climbed up the rest of the ladder and sat down opposite Hazel who had already gone back to doing her schoolwork. He leaned back looking at her. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her lips moved slightly as she read the book. He could sit there forever. _No! Knock it off! Don't be creepy!_

"Sawyer shouldn't you be working too? You have finals. I may not know much about high school but I do know that finals suck."

"Don't worry about me. I have time."

"Good. Use that time."

"Maybe I want to spend that time with you. Wanna go and get ice cream?" Hazel didn't look up from her books, though she smiled a little and her cheeks flushed to dark pink color.

"I'd love too. I just want to focus on this first, I'm done soon."

"Like I said I have time. I can wait." He sat back and waited for her to be done. A small part of him told him to also start with his school work, but another part of him wanted to spend time with Hazel. A third wanted to see Winter. The second part won for now. Once again, Hazel fell back into the world of homework, but it didn't last very long.

"Sawyer, I can concentrate with you sitting here watching me. Tell you what? Why don't you go inside the aquarium and see Winter and Hope and I'll be there soon?"

"Don't take too much time" he joked. Hazel smiled at him as he climbed down, took his bike and rode off to see the dolphins.

**Hazel's POV**

She tried to finish her school work as quickly as possible. She had a date! Okay, maybe not a date. She and Sawyer were _only friends_. She tried telling herself that to hide the fact that when Sawyer asked about ice cream she had gotten a strong tingle in her stomach.

Hazel climbed down and went in to leave her books in her room. While she was there she took a look in the mirror. Her cheeks were slightly sun kissed by the early summer sun. Hazel let out her hair and shook her head slightly so that it fell nicely over her shoulders. A lip gloss caught her attention. It was simple and bright pink. If she wore the lip gloss it would look like she tried hard to look good and since she almost never wore make up Sawyer would probably ask why she did now.

Instead she put some moisturizer on her lips, it had a natural shine to it. Hazel also decided on a pair of black sunglasses.

"Alright, here we go" said Hazel to her mirror reflection.

Hazel's grandfather sat in the living room, reading a book.

"Grandpa?"

"Yes, Hazel?"

"If you see dad, please tell him that Sawyer and I are out getting ice cream, would you?" Her grandfather smiled and quirked an eyebrow.

"Getting ice cream?"

"Yes, what's wrong with that?"

"Oh nothing, I'll tell him. Have fun!" He chuckled lightly to himself before going back to reading his book.

Sawyer waited for her by Winter's and Hope's pool. He smiled when he saw her and Hazel felt a tingle in her stomach, which she tried but failed to ignore.

Sawyer was dressed in shorts and a dark green golf shirt which suited him nicely. Hazel caught herself looking at his stomach where his slight six pack showed through. Her felt herself going red and looked down.

"Shall we go?" he asked. Hazel nodded. She gave Winter and Hope one quick pat on the head each.

They decided on Frozen yoghurt and Hazel was pleased to see that they had an easy conservation during the walk, no awkward silences. They talked about dolphins of course, Winter's next show, high school and how much Sawyer hated that place, summer break, Sawyer teased her about her habit of always mixing blueberries and white chocolate-syrup with her Frozen yoghurt.

When they got there though, Hazel convinced Sawyer to try it. After they paid they selected a table outside in the glowing sun.

"Come on taste it!" said Hazel as they sat down.

"I will, relax" said Sawyer. And he did it.

"Hmm? Well?"

"Okay it was rather good…"

"Ha! I was right! I knew you'd like it."

They fell in a comfortable silence as they ate. Hazel enjoyed the view of the town, though something was bugging her. Something she'd thought about a months and she knew that she had to do something about it soon, otherwise it would be too late. She couldn't talk to her dad about it, but maybe Sawyer.

"Sawyer, can I talk to you about something private?" Sawyer looked up from his yoghurt, he looked uncertain.

"… Yeah" he answered slowly. "Yeah… Sure…"

"Look, I… I've been homeschooled my whole life."

"Right."

"But the thing is, I want to apply to college. I want to go to school and experience that for a change."

"Oh… Well I think that's a good idea, have you talked to Dr. Clay about it?"

"No, that's the problem… I don't think he would want that, I think he wants me to stay here and work at the aquarium. He won't understand."

"Hazel… I think he will. Every parent wants their children to go to college, you should talk to him. Do you know where you want to apply?

"No, I haven't looked that much, yet. Something with marine biology, obviously."

Hazel understood that if she wanted to go to college anywhere she had to talk to her dad, but would he understand? She'd thought about it for a long time. But would anyone even accept a girl who's been homeschooled her entire life? And if they did, what college would she apply too? Not anything too far away, she wanted to be close to her family and the aquarium. Where would Sawyer go? Would they even stay in touch when he went away?

All the thoughts in her head swirled around like a hurricane and made her even more confused. One thing she was sure of, she had to talk to her dad, _soon_.

**So this was chapter one. Please leave a review! They make me so happy, I'd love to hear your thoughts! To be continued in "Planning"! : )**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! So this is chapter 2. It's a lot of dialogue and if you find that annoying I'm really sorry but it's needed for the chapter. Personally I'm quite pleased with the result to be honest. Enjoy! : )**

Chapter 2 – Planning

**Hazel's POV**

Today she and Sawyer were on cleaning Winter's and Hope's pool duty. It wasn't the chore she liked best, but none of them were boring. She thought a lot about the day before. The time with Sawyer at the yoghurt bar wasn't a date. _It wasn't!_ But a small part of her mind wanted it to be. They hadn't kissed or anything, since it wasn't a date. But still… She'd always liked Sawyer as more than a friend, though now it was more obvious than before.

She looked at him as he sat on the platform and scrubbing it. His brow was slightly furrowed and his hair was hanging down in his eyes. She smiled. Sawyer looked up.

"What are you smiling at?" Hazel looked down, embarrassed.

"I don't know…" For a moment Sawyer looked down too but then he looked up again.

"Hazel..?"

"Yes?"

"About yesterday… I-?"

"God job, guys!" said a voice. As Hazel looked up she saw her dad looking down at them. "Hey Hazel, can you go and help Phoebe with the animal food?"

"But I'm not done" answered Hazel.

"It's okay, I want to talk to Sawyer anyway."

"Why?"

"Hazel, please do as I say…"

"Fine." Hazel got up and walked away through the corridor and the door.

**Sawyer's POV**

Okay now he was confused. Why would Dr. Clay want to talk with him privately? Had he done something wrong? Was it about Winter? Or Hope? If it was about him and Hazel than he would talk with both of them, right?

Dr. Clay took him to his office, it was messy as usual and the computer was turned on though in Stand By mode. He offered Sawyer a seat in one of the chairs and Sawyer sat down.

He couldn't help but feeling worried. What if he didn't want Sawyer to be a part of the CMA anymore? _No, no! That can't be it! Winter needs me! He couldn't do that, could he?_

"Sawyer, we need to talk" said Dr. Clay, leaning back in his chair, watching Sawyer.

"About what, sir?" His heart pounded to hard he was afraid it would soon pop out of his chest.

"Hazel."

"Hazel?"

"Yes, about Hazel. Now, as you probably know, it's her birthday next week."

"Yes, sir I know that. If you're asking what I'm getting her then trust me, unfortunately I have no idea." Dr. Clay laughed.

"No Sawyer this isn't about what you're getting my daughter for her birthday. But, since it's her eighteenth birthday I want to make it special. I know that she's sad that her mom won't get to see her turn eighteen and so am I, but this way it can be special anyway."

"What are you planning?"

"A surprise party, on her birthday. What do you think?"

"I… I think it's a great idea!"

"Oh good. I've already talked to your mom, Dr. McCarthy, grandpa Haskett, Kyle and the staff and their all in for it. I've rented a place, Phoebe's friend has offered to be a DJ, your mom is going to bake some stuff, we are going to order food from a restaurant and a cake from a local bakery. But your job, Sawyer; is to be a distraction for Hazel. If I ever need to run off on an errand or something regarding the party then I need you to make sure Hazel doesn't find out why I'm going away. I think you can handle that, we both know how much Hazel likes you."

Sawyer felt himself turning deep red and looked down in his lap. _"We both know how much Hazel likes you." _Did she really? In _that _way?

"That sounds great, Dr. Clay. Perfect."

"Good. But Sawyer, if Hazel asked you what we were talking about, tell her you're working on a school paper about running your own company and I gave you an inside look on how I run the CMA, okay?"

"Okay. That's a good cover."

"Alright. We need to keep Hazel busy on certain occasions until Friday next week, six days exactly. You can go now."

"Okay, have a good day, sir."

"You too, Sawyer. But we'll see each other for the staff meeting later." Dr. Clay winked at him. Sawyer smiled and went out to find Hazel.

It was lunch time and he was starving. She wasn't by the pool, though when he got there his phone beeped. A text from his mom.

"_Hey honey, I know that you probably want to eat lunch with the staff but since it's my day off, you want to eat at home? Bring Hazel if you want! : )"_

Just then Hazel appeared.

"Hey" she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. The image was beautiful. Sawyer smiled.

"Hey. Mom wonders if you want to eat lunch at home with us?"

"Yeah sure! That'd be great. I'll just go and tell dad. I'll be right back."

Sawyer texted his mom back.

"_I can eat at home. Hazel comes too, we're on our way"_

Thought swirled around in his head. He liked Hazel, he really did. Her beautiful face was imprinted in his no matter where he went. Every time she was close by her scent of salt water and a faint smell of summer flowers caught his breath. But did she like him back? Dr. Clay said she did, but did he mean as friend or as more than that. Would she say yes if he asked her out? Did she even find him attractive?

Sawyer wanted to ask her out, but how?

"Ready to go?" Hazel had suddenly appeared there again. Her scent made him slightly woozy. Sawyer smiled but felt embarrassed. He nodded and they walked out.

"By the way, what did you and dad talk about?"

"Politics." Hazel quirked and eyebrow. Sawyer laughed. "I'm kidding. No, see I'm writing this school paper about running your own company."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. And he showed me an inside look at how he runs the CMA." God he hoped she bought that lie. She wasn't gullible. She sounded very doubtful.

"Alright…" Sawyer exhaled lightly and made a mental note to not tense up so much next time he had to lie to her. They reached their bikes and hopped on.

"Let's eat" said Sawyer as they biked off to his house for lunch.

**Hope you liked it! Please leave a review!**

**I'm going to start something I call "Simple Swedish", since I'm a proud Swede I thought it would be fun to teach you who want to some Swedish. With every new chapter in this story I will teach you a new phrase.**

**Simple Swedish of the chapter: Hej jag heter *fill in your name*. (Hello my name is *fill in your name*)**

**To be continued in "School stuff and movies". **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! I've been sick lately but I'm better now so hopefully the chapters will come out quicker. Personally I really like this chapter and I hope you will too! : )**

Chapter 3 – School stuff and movies

**Sawyer's POV**

As usual, studying at home sucked. It wasn't that he hated school but, when you're home you should just relax, not continue school work! He was working on an essay on one of Shakespeare's plays for his history class. It never really interested him, so it was hard. He couldn't give deep thoughts about Ophelia's love affair with Hamlet, the character's or let alone the plot.

Then it struck him, he knew exactly who could help him now that his mother was at work. Hazel! He took his phone and called her.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi, Hazel it's Sawyer."

"_Hey, Sawyer, what's up?"_

"Listen, you're into Shakespeare, right?"

"_Sometimes, why?"_

"I'm doing this essay about 'Hamlet' and I have like now idea what to write. Can… Can you help me?"

"_Uhh… Yeah. Yeah, I'll be right over. Hang in there! Don't overload your brain, because I'll be the one doing that."_ Sawyer chuckled.

"Don't worry. I won't."

"_Good, see you soon!"_

"See you." He hung up. A feeling brewed up in him. A giddy, girly feeling. He told himself it wasn't right. _Get a grip, man! Don't act that way!_

He started running around in the house like a woozy chicken, making small changes like, making his bed, putting away some dishes and combing his hair which stood out in every place since he took a shower. Just as he ran across the hall with some dirty laundry, the doorbell rang. Sawyer instantly forgot that he hell a stack of boxers and socks in his arms and opened the door.

"Hi!" he said. Hazel giggled.

"Hi! Are those for me?" She pointed at the boxers. Sawyer gave himself a mental kick in the head and turned dark red.

"Oh! No! No, no, no! …They are not. Uhh… Why don't you come in and sit down in my room and I'll just put these away." Hazel laughed by now.

"Sure!" She walked in and sat down at the kitchen table where Sawyer's laptop and books were spread out.

Sawyer got back from the bathroom. He was still embarrassed over the fact that Hazel had seen his stack of dirty boxers. He tried to push it out of his mind and to focus on the homework about Hamlet.

"So, they only told us to write about Hamlet. They didn't say anything specific" said Sawyer when he sat down.

"So they're probably testing you to see how well you can invest yourself in the world about Hamlet. Write something deep and emotional. You'll get an A for that" answered Hazel.

"That's the thing, I can't write deep stuff…"

"Well, what's the most emotional event you've ever experienced?" Wow! He was not good at this emotional talk. He knew Hazel, and he knew that she wouldn't blabber. He trusted her, he did. But he never really spoke of his emotions. Not even to his mother.

"Uhm… When I met Winter, maybe… Yeah… When I met Winter."

"Okay. Those were good feelings, right?"

"Right…"

"You should incorporate that in the essay, but Hamlet is mostly anger and desperation. You have anything like that..?"

"Bad memories… Well… When my dad left…" He felt his entire body and mind sulk. Sawyer trembled slightly and he fought to keep the tears in. Hazel grabbed his hand carefully. He looked up and she smiled softly.

Soon with Hazel's help he was able to finish his homework.

"Want to see what's new on Netflix, maybe?" Sawyer asked as they moved into his room. "We can link the laptop to my TV."

"That'll be great. I'll just call dad real quick and tell him I'll be staying a little later."

"Okay, I'm gonna go and fix the TV." Sawyer walked away to his room and started fidgeting with cables and stuff. He heard Hazel talking in the kitchen and a smile curled his lips as the revelation that would have to sit quite close to fit on the bed crossed his mind.

He logged in just as Hazel entered the room.

"So, what should we see?" asked Hazel as she sat down on the bed.

"What do you want to see?" asked Sawyer back.

"I'm open to most. Just no gory horror movies!" Sawyer chuckled.

"Nothing gory… Let's see…" He flipped through many movies before they finally decided on a thriller from the 90's. A little old maybe but Hazel seemed pleased so Sawyer didn't argue. He had seen it before and it wasn't that bad, though Hazel apparently hadn't.

"I'll be right back" said Sawyer. "Don't press play yet!"

Sawyer walked out to the kitchen and started to search the pantry and soon he found what he was looking for, he put it in the microwave. Soon a popping sound filled the air and a pleasant smell filled the air.

"Do I detect popcorn?" asked Hazel in a made up snobbish voice. Sawyer laughed.

"Yes you do, Milady" answered Sawyer and bowed. Hazel smiled. She walked up to him and the microwave.

"Let me help. Where are the bowls?"

"Uhh… In that cabinet over there."

Quite soon they were seated near, really near each other on Sawyer's bed with a bowl of popcorn in Sawyer's lap and the movie had just started.

Hazel seemed to enjoy it. Her expression changed in tact with the pace of the movie and she leaned into him a bit. Sawyer would never admit out loud but he really enjoyed the feeling of Hazel warm, small body slightly pressed against him.

He felt himself go tired, and more tired…

**Lorraine's POV**

"Hello?" Lorraine called as she opened the front door and walked in. Nobody answered, but the door had been unlocked. So Sawyer had to be around somewhere, he wouldn't leave without locking the door. She thought he might be in the shower or something but she didn't hear and sound of water.

She started walking around the house, looking for him. His bedroom door was barely open, she swung it open carefully and what she saw made her smile.

She saw the very sweet view of her son and Hazel curled up in his bed, sleeping. Hazel's head leaned against Sawyer's shoulder and Sawyer leaned his head on top of hers. Sawyer had a bowl of popcorn in his lap which was dangerously near tipping over.

She sneaked in and took the bowl and as she did, she noticed that their hands were only an inch from touching. She smiled.

Just as Lorraine walked into the kitchen, her phone started to ring.

"Hello?" she whisper-answered.

"_Hi, this is Clay" _answered Clay on the other line.

"Oh hello Clay, what can I do for you?"

"_I was just wondering. Is Hazel at your place? She told me would be a few hours ago. I just want to know for sure."_

"Yeah she's here. She and Sawyer have fallen asleep in front of the TV."

"_Oh… Well that's sweet."_

"It is… She can stay for dinner, if that's okay. You too if you want."

"_Thank you, but I'm swamped with the preps for Hazel's birthday party. But of course Hazel can stay if she wants."_

"Alright, well take care."

"_You too, goodbye Lorraine."_

"Bye…"

**Enjoyed it? Please leave a review! To be continued in "Party". : )**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! So here's finally a new chapter. It's been a while but I did it. Your reviews keep me going! Thank you sooooooo much! You have no idea how happy they make me. But I'm not going to blabber all day. Enjoy! : )**

Chapter 4 – Party

**Sawyer's POV**

Today was it, Sawyer told himself. Today was Hazel's birthday. Tonight Hazel's surprise party would take place. Soon, Dr Clay would text him, then he would take Hazel out somewhere so the others could set up the party.

_Okay Sawyer. Keep Hazel away until you hear from me again._

He read the text and immediately called Hazel.

"_Hey Sawyer_" said Hazel when she picked up. "_How are you?"_

"I'm great. Listen, can you meet me at Grandma Betty's Diner? I was thinking maybe we could get some lunch. My treat."

"_Yeah okay. When?"_

"Now."

"_Oh, well. Okay…"_

"I can pick you up and we'll take the bus?"

"_That'll be great. See you soon."_

"See you." He hung up.

**Hazel's POV**

This was strange. But maybe not so strange anyway. It was her birthday after all. Maybe he wanted to take her out to celebrate just the two of them. Maybe… But something was off.

Her dad hadn't even congratulated her. It wasn't that she was being selfish, but she'd at least hoped that her dad would have said something. Sawyer hadn't either. Yet… Neither had Phoebe or anybody else. They hadn't forgotten had they?

Hazel dressed up in a pair of shorts and a purple tank top. She had her hair in a side braid.

She sat in a chair outside the boathouse when Sawyer arrived.

"Hey!" He said. Hazel stood up on her feet and walked up to him.

"Hi." He gave her a careful hug and she felt a strong tingle in her stomach. Sawyer smelled faintly of something warm and pleasant, she couldn't decide what it was.

"Shall we go?" Sawyer asked.

"Yeah!"

They went out to the diner. Sawyer had a burger while Hazel had chicken and fries. It was a comfortable silence as they ate. But the fact that Sawyer hadn't said anything about her birthday bugged her. It wasn't like him to forget such a thing as someone's birthday.

After the lunch they went for a stroll in the park. It was a beautiful sunny day, only one small cloud in sight. Sawyer insisted on taking a picture on her with the trees and sun behind her. Eventually she cave and let him take it. Everything Hazel could do was to scream to herself not to blush.

"You know, it's so delightful to see such a young couple happy. In my age you rarely get to see it, at least not when you don't have any grandchildren" said a voice behind them.

Hazel turned around to see and old woman sitting on a bench with a book in her lap. The woman looked to be about seventy-five to eighty and her smile was surprisingly bright. There were a couple of teeth missing but the joy on her face made up for it.

**Sawyer's POV**

"We're not together" answered Sawyer politely and then he mumbled something quietly he hoped Hazel wouldn't hear.

The old woman looked startled from him to Hazel.

"It's true" Hazel said. "We're not." Though it didn't escape Sawyer that she sounded a bit disappointed when she said it.

"Oh… That's too bad. You look beautiful together" said the old woman, gave them a last smile before returning to her book. Sawyer felt himself blush and looked down at the ground. Then at his watch. It showed 4:30 pm, so surely they had to be done with the preps soon.

**Hazel's POV**

After Sawyer answered the woman "We're not together" he mumbled something. He probably thought, or at least hoped that she hadn't heard it. But she did, well she was ninety percent sure she did.

She could have sworn that he mumbled "Unfortunately…"!

**Sawyer's POV**

_We're done. Get Hazel here. You know the plan._

He was so happy he received the text while Hazel was in the ladies room. She was so curious and if she heard the tone she would have wanted to read it.

_Okay. We're on our way._

"Hey Hazel. I just remembered. Can I show you a place where my grandpa used to take me when I was younger?" Sawyer lied. "It's really beautiful there. You can see the whole ocean."

"Why not. Is it far?"

"Not at all we can walk."

And so they went. Not to somewhere his grandpa used to take him, but to the rented party hall for Hazel's surprised. Hazel kept looking around for the right place but looked more and more confused when they didn't reach any water.

"Come on, let's just go in here real quick" said Sawyer when they reached the party hall.

"But it's all dark, it's probably not open" answered Hazel, confused.

"It's alright, we know the owners" he lied. He took a hold of Hazel's hand and opened the door. As soon as he closed it the guests screamed:

"SURPRISE!"

**Hazel's POV**

The scream, the sudden light switch, the people, the decorations. They all startled her. It took a moment for her brain to process what was going on. A birthday party? For her?

"What's this?" Hazel asked, half surprised, half happy.

"Happy birthday" Sawyer answered.

"For me?"

"For you, honey" said Lorraine who had just come up and gave Hazel a hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks!" Something struck her. She didn't exactly have party clothes on. "I'm not exactly dressed properly…"

"We can fix that. Come with me" Lorraine said with a mischievous grin on her face. She lead Hazel to a backroom with the door closed. "Alright." Lorraine put one of her hands over Hazel's eyes so she couldn't see. Hazel heard her using the other hand to open the door.

She blindly lead by Lorraine inside the room and door was closed behind her.

"Taa daa!"

Hazel could see and what she saw took her breath away. It was a dress with matching shoes. The dress was red, with a sweetheart and spaghetti straps, it was made of some flowing material sort of like chiffon. On the front it ended just above the knees but was longer in the back, there it ended just below the knees. A satin strap was bound around the waist.

The shoes were in the same color, pumps with a rose on each.

"It's my present for you. Do you like it?" Lorraine asked.

"I love it!" Hazel screamed. "It's so beautiful! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You're welcome, honey. Now go and change over there."

Hazel took the dress and shoes and stepped behind a curtain to change. Lorraine smiled when she stepped out.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you." She felt beautiful too, very beautiful.

"Just one more touch, sit down." Hazel sat down and Lorraine brushed her hair and did her makeup quick. "Perfect. Look in the mirror."

It was indeed perfect. Her hair was naturally wavy from the side braid and her makeup was simple but perfectly matched with the dress.

"Sawyer will love it" said Lorraine quietly to her.

"What?" Hazel tried to sound as natural as possible though failing miserably because it was just what she hoped to hear. Lorraine just smiled knowingly.

"Go on, now…"

They danced, ate, laughed, she opened presents, talked. The cake was fabulous. It tasted of blueberries and white chocolate. Hazel's favorite.

Suddenly Sawyer found her in the crowd.

"Hi!" he said. He sounded nervous.

"Hi!" Hazel said back.

"Can you come with me for a moment?"

"Sure!"

They walked away from the crowd, outside. There was a small garden in the back, there was also a bench. They sat down. Hazel waited for him to say something but he didn't. After a minute he took something out from his pocket and gave it to her.

It was a small box in dark purple and silver gift wrap.

"Happy birthday, Hazel" Sawyer said.

"Thank you" Hazel answered and slowly opened the gift wrap. Inside was a black jewelry box. After she opened the lid it revealed a bracelet with oyster pearls and a silver plate in the middle. Something was graved in it. _Carpe Diem_

"_Carpe Diem. _Seize the day" said Hazel.

"Yeah…" Sawyer started, obviously extremely nervous. "I- I thought that since were both going away to college, we're both going to be busy and not see each other that often. We both need to remember to have fun and not study all the time. You know, to _seize the day_. You only live once, right?"

"Right. But we don't know for sure that I'm going, I've applied but I haven't even talked to my dad about it."

"Of course, but I also thought… Maybe it could remind you of- of me." Hazel smiled. She slowly leaned in and gave him a long hug.

"Thank you…" she whispered.

"Do you wanna go in and dance with me?" Sawyer asked.

"I'd love to" Hazel smiled.

They went in and luckily, fate had decided to play a slow song just at the right moment…

**Hope you liked it! I hope you aren't too disappointed that they didn't kiss, I know it was a perfect opportunity. No matter how tempting it is not to, I have to stick to my storyline. Please leave a review! To be continued in "Hiding". :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! Thank you all so, so much for your lovely reviews, they really keep me going. I appreciate it so much that you can bear with me even though I suck at updating my stories as often as I'd like too.**

**This is the first chapter completely in Hazel's POV. I found it quite interesting to write entirely in her POV. Anyways, enough of my babbling. Enjoy!**

Chapter 5 – Hiding

**Hazel's POV**

Hazel sat in her room in the boathouse. She flipped through a brochure about a college. The pictures were beautiful, it looked so perfect. By the water, deeply invested in marine biology and leading management.

It was late in the evening and she should probably have gotten into bed by now but something kept her up. Usually it was thoughts of Sawyer that kept her up nowadays but for once he wasn't the reason.

College was.

She had applied, yes. In fact to the very college she was now flipping through. She took a sip from the cup of hot chocolate on her desk. Hazel knew that she had to talk to her dad, _soon_. If he found out about it when she got the letter saying if she got in, he would probably be angry. Or at least hurt that she hadn't said anything.

There was a knock on the door and she quickly slipped the brochure inside a drawer, but not fast enough. It was her dad at the door.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing towards the badly closed drawer.

"Nothing!" Hazel answered fast. Too fast.

"Nothing, huh?"

"Yes, nothing. Good night, dad.

"Hazel, is there something you want to talk to me about? If there is, you know you can tell me anything."

"I know. But there's nothing to talk about."

"If you say so… Good night."

"Good night."

As soon as her dad had closed the door, Hazel gave herself a hard face palm. She chickened out. Why? Why!? She had her chance! Why didn't she take it. She couldn't continue chicken out like this. Not if she wanted to go away for college.

Tomorrow, Hazel told herself. Tomorrow she would do it. A hard knot started to form in Hazel's stomach. What if he didn't accept what she wanted to do? What if he was angry? What if he refused to let her go? What if, what if, what if?

Thoughts swirled around and made her nauseous. Slowly she got on the bed and just laid there still it passed. It didn't take very long, fortunately.

Soon, Hazel fell asleep.

XXX

She didn't talk to her dad the next day either, she chickened out, _again_.

The daily routine the day after that went on as usual. They ate breakfast together, Hazel, her dad and grandpa. After that her grandpa went for a bike ride while her dad went up to the aquarium to work and Hazel sat quietly in her room, doing her schoolwork. She ate lunch, continued with her school work. After she was done she went up to the aquarium too. There she helped Phoebe with some chores until Sawyer arrived. Then she would do the rest of her chores together with him.

Today the first on the list was preparing the food for the otters.

"Remember how I told you I was supposed to talk to dad about college?" Hazel asked as they prepared.

"Yes" answered Sawyer. "I do."

"Well…"

"Don't tell me."

"I didn't do it…"

"Hazel!"

"I know! I know, it was really, really stupid of me. Time is running out and all that. You don't have to yell at me."

"I'm not! At least not a lot… Sorry."

"It's alright. I just can't do it. I can't…"

"If our hands weren't slimy right now, I would give you reassuring pat on the shoulder or a hug or something like that. But, you know-"

"During the circumstances I get it. Later maybe?" She smiled at him, hopefully he would get that she was both flirting and joking. Though Sawyer wasn't the best when it came to picking up hints. Hazel thanked her lucky star for that everyday a few years ago when a volunteer named Susie worked at the aquarium. Later that year, Susie moved to a different part of Florida because of her father's job.

"Right" Sawyer stammered out.

"But seriously, what should I do, Sawyer? I can't keep this up."

"Well, right now the best thing to do is probably- Hello, Dr Clay!"

Hazel turned around to see her dad standing in the doorway, he smiled.

"Dad! How long have you been standing there?"

"Oh I just came in, I wanted to see how it's going with the otter food. How _is _it going?"

"Good" answered Sawyer. "Yeah we're almost done."

"Oh good, good. When you're done, can you just help Phoebe with pool cleaning quickly? It's the big one and she's on it by her own. Then you can have the day of. It is Friday after all."

"Yeah, sure dad we can do that. Right, Sawyer?" said Hazel.

"Absolutely."

Her dad smiled at them and walked away. Hazel exhaled deeply. That was a close one! Like she said, she couldn't keep this up anymore. Sooner or later it would only end in disaster.

"See? This is why you can't keep hiding, Hazel. Just talk to your dad. Please!"

"I will I promise."

"Super-promise?"

"Super-promise!"

XXX

After she and Sawyer were done helping Phoebe with the pool they decided to go for a walk along the beach. That would have been perfect if they only were a couple. Unfortunately they weren't. Only in Hazel's dreams. Hopefully they would be in the future. Hazel just hoped that he felt the same way about her as she did about him. God, she hoped.

But she couldn't think about that now, but she wanted too. Just for a moment she decided to escape reality.

"You know, you still owe me that hug" said Hazel with a playful smile on her face.

"I do, don't I?" answered Sawyer. He slowly leaned in and gave her that hug. Hazel felt all warm inside. Even though he was quite skinny he was big enough to cover her with his body and it made her feel so safe in his arms, very romantic. "It's going to be okay, you know. You can tell him and he will understand. You'll see…"

**Hope you liked it. Maybe some of you are wondering why this story lack appearance of Winter and Hope. I want to focus heavily on the Sawyer/Hazel relationship because we don't get to see much in the movies. But if you miss them don't worry. The next chapter will almost be all about them. : )**

**Btw, Tanya1015 said something that I found very interesting. She said she didn't know the ship name for Sawyer and Hazel and come think of it. Neither do I… If anyone does, please leave a review and tell everyone out there who doesn't. Maybe it's "Hazer" or "Sawyel" or something like that… ; ) **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey y'all! Here's chapter 6 in record-speed update. New personal record! Yay! ; ) Enjoy!**

Chapter 6 – Winter, Hope and a splash

**Sawyer's POV**

The only thing Sawyer could think about this Saturday morning was Hazel. The day before when they walked on the beach she joked about him owing her a hug. As soon as she mentioned it he felt a strong tingle in his stomach.

He felt like a giddy schoolgirl when around her. It was a good feeling, but a little intruding. Sometimes he just wanted to focus on other things like school or his family, but somehow Hazel always managed to sneak up in his mind.

"What are you thinking about, honey?" asked his mother Lorraine when he sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast while she prepared to go to a meeting for work.

"Oh… Uhh, school" Sawyer immediately lied.

"Hmm… I think you're thinking about someone with long blonde hair, brown eyes and freckles."

"Mom!" His mother raised her hand in apology.

"I'm just saying, I think it's time you pull yourself together and do something about things."

"_Things?_"

"Just think about it, okay honey?"

"Sure…"

She was right, and Sawyer knew it. If he wanted to be more than friends with Hazel then he better do something about "stuff". But for now he couldn't. Right now he just wanted to focus on school and finals which were only a few weeks away. But he couldn't focus on that either for the moment.

He needed a distraction. The answer just popped up in his head, _Winter and Hope!_ They surely help him by being a distraction for him. Plus he hadn't seen them for a few days, school and his urgent need for being with Hazel had gotten in the way.

So he decided to take a bike ride up to the aquarium and visit them. His mind split in two parts, one of them hoped Hazel would be there, the other one didn't. As much as he liked her, he needed to focus on something else to clear his head.

"Hey, Winter!" Sawyer said when he reached the pool. "Hey, Hope, how are you guys?" Winter gave up her tweety bird sound and Hope waved her fins in the water. "I'll take that as good."

Winter buffed his hand with her head and splashed some water in his direction as if saying _"Play!"_. Sawyer got the message and went to get Winter's rubber ducky and Hope's water gun.

The played with the toys for a while, but after that, Winter and Hope seemed to exchange looks. Sawyer sat and patted them both on their heads. They made a sudden movement inwards to the pool and Sawyer fell in.

"I should have seen that one coming…" Sawyer said to himself. Winter buffed him with her head again. "Alright, alright! Come on, let's swim."

They swam together around the pool. The distraction had worked. Sawyer hadn't thought about Hazel for surely an hour now and his head was much clearer on everything. School, the aquarium, college (which he had already applied to a long time ago but still). His mind was clearer when it came to Hazel too. A small image had started to take form in his mind, that image showed him what he wanted to do but he was afraid he would never have the guts to do it.

He pictured her walking with him, she was beautiful. He pictured a flower. Hopefully it would be something she dreamed about. God knew he did. What he had in mind was perfect, but would he ever be able to do it?

"You three seem to be having fun…"

Sawyer looked but to see a beautiful blonde with hazel colored eyes and freckles. Hazel was leaning against shelf filled with toys, smirking. Sawyer remembered what he just fantasized about and felt a little flustered.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"A while" Hazel smirked. She walked up to the pool and sat down with her legs dangling in the water.

"How long is that?"

"I don't know, maybe fifteen minutes. You didn't notice…"

"I guess I didn't." Hazel smiled at him.

"You're cute when you're flustered."

"You can tell that I am?"

"Your face is kind of red." She leaned forward and added in a dramatic whisper: "It easy to tell then…" Sawyer got even more embarrassed and felt himself getting more red.

**Hazel's POV**

He _was _cute when flustered. She had never had the guts to say it before but now it just slipped out and she had to make a joke out of it. Hazel wanted to tell him everything she felt for him. Like how much she loved him caring so much about the aquarium, the way he stammered when he was unsure and how much she liked him. Why couldn't she do it?

Sawyer was the first person he knew for sure she ever liked in _that _way. She wanted to say _the first person she had ever fallen in love with._ That was the truth, she was in love with him.

But before she knew for sure that there could be anything between them, she was afraid to utter those words aloud.

"Wanna join us in this fine pool?" Sawyer joked.

"Maybe…"

"Maybe… Fine. I won't force you." Sawyer swam closer. "But _maybe_ just a little!"

Sawyer grabbed Hazel's arm and pulled. She splashed into the water

"Sawyer!"

"What?" Hazel splashed some water on his as an answer. Sawyer splashed back and soon they had gotten into a water war.

Very romantic, in Hazel's mind. Recently there had been a lot of moments. Like the time they went for Frozen yoghurt, when they fell asleep together on Sawyer's bed, when he gave her that bracelet.

The bracelet was beautiful, she had been wearing it every day since she got it from him, though he didn't know whether he had noticed it or not. She hoped he had.

"Alright you two! Stop it before you create a tsunami!" It was her dad talking, fortunately he smiled.

"Sorry dad" said Hazel.

"Don't worry, it's fine. We're all going out for pizza. Your mom too, Sawyer. Get changed into something dry and let's go!"

"We're coming!" said Sawyer and smiled. He got out of the pool and offered Hazel his hand to help her up, which she took.

It had been a good day…

**Hope you liked it! So I gave you a tiny, teeny little hint to a major fluffiness coming later in the story. Maybe some of you can guess, maybe all of you! : ) So far it's all been pretty calm and I hope to maintain that just a little.**

**I just remembered something! I've completely forgotten about Simple Swedish! *Face palm So here I have a few phrases if anyone is interested, just to make it up to you:**

**Vad heter du? (What's your name?)**

**Hur mår du? (How are you feeling?)**

**Jag mår bra. (I'm feeling good.)**

**Jag älskar dig. (I love you.) **


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